CategoryLessons

There is a famous parable in the Buddhist sutras that stresses the importance of empathizing with the suffering of others to transform our own heavy hearts: One day, Shakyamuni was approached by a woman [racked] by grief at the loss of her child. She begged him to bring her baby back to life. Shakyamuni comforted

Nichiren Daishonin tells [his disciple] Yasaburo, “You must simply make up your mind” (“Reply to Yasaburo,” The Writings of Nichiren Daishonin, vol. 1, p. 829). Once we decide to take on a challenge, we must approach it with the determination to win. When facing an opponent, it is easy to be defeated by our own

There is an anecdote about a son of the eminent Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, Ilya, that goes like this: “One day, the boy was given a cup and saucer that he had wanted for a long time. Overjoyed, he wished to show it to everyone. He rushed around the house almost beside himself with excitement.

People’s personalities are infinitely diverse; the English language is said to have as many as 18,000 words to describe the different kinds of character traits that people have.[1] Surely everyone has struggled with some aspect of their own personality. Regarding this Ikeda Sensei writes: “No one’s personality is flawless. … Inevitably, there will be aspects

Legends tell of carp transforming into a dragon by swimming up a waterfall called the Dragon Gate. The falls are believed to be located on the upper or middle reaches of the Yellow River in China. Some sources describe it as being 100 feet high, others as 1,000. Though measurements of the Dragon Gate differ,

How did the eminent British historian Arnold J. Toynbee remain productive throughout his long life? He was at an advanced age when he shared his daily schedule with Ikeda Sensei during their extensive dialogue in 1973. Professor Toynbee awoke every morning at 6:45, prepared breakfast for himself and his wife, made his bed and began

One day, Aniruddha [one of Shakyamuni’s 10 major disciples] attempted to mend a tear in his robe. But because he couldn’t see, he was unable to thread the sewing needle. In his frustration, he muttered, “Is there no one who will thread this needle for me and so gain good fortune [from helping a practitioner

What the world urgently needs now is an age of wisdom. No matter how much information or knowledge we may have, it does not necessarily produce value or bring happiness. The power of wisdom effectively puts that knowledge and information to use, puts it into action. Second Soka Gakkai President Josei Toda once told the

Shakyamuni’s disciple Ananda once asked if advancing with good friends is half the way to enlightenment. Shakyamuni responded that this was not the correct way of thinking. It is not half the Buddha way, he said, but all the Buddha way. Ikeda Sensei explains: Advancing and striving together with good friends is not half but

Once there was a Brahman who was upset that his wife had become Shakyamuni’s follower. Since his wife praised the Buddha so highly, he went to try to defeat him in debate. But instead of refuting Shakyamuni, the Brahman was so impressed by his preaching that he converted to Buddhism himself. His fellow Brahmans thought

A certain Japanese businessman said to his friend: “You’re always complaining about having so many problems. I know a place where there are at least 10,000 people, but not one of them has even a single problem or worry. Should I take you there?” His friend said, “Yes, please do!” And guess where the businessman

The following story was adapted from Ikeda Sensei’s guidance in The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, part 3, p. 155–56. One day, a woman went to see Mahatma Gandhi to urge him to speak to her son. The boy, around 7 years old, was very fond of sweets and consumed them in great quantities,

In the world of track and field, it was long thought that no one could run a mile in under 4 minutes. … However, [in 1954], one person raised the bar. Roger Bannister, a British athlete, broke through the steel wall of the 4-minute mile [finishing in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds]. Interestingly, after this

In the following excerpt from The New Human Revolution, vol. 11, Ikeda Sensei, who appears in the novel as Shin’ichi Yamamoto, encourages members in Peru about the significance of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. “I would like every single one of you to become great victors in life. “Today, therefore, I would like to talk with you a

A classic Japanese comedy tells the following story: Once there was a country village where no one had a mirror. In those days, mirrors were priceless. A man, returning from his trip to the capital, handed his wife a mirror as a souvenir. That was the first time for her to see a mirror. Looking

Experiencing hardships allows us to develop ourselves as human beings. All of the efforts we make for kosen-rufu ultimately enrich our lives. Nichiren [Daishonin] cites a simile used by the Great Teacher T’ien-t’ai: “It will … be like a boar rubbing against the golden mountain” (“The Actions of the Votary of the Lotus Sutra,” The

There were three men carrying stones. A passerby asked them, “What are you doing?” One of the men answered, “I am carting stones.” The second answered, “I am working on a wall.” And the third answered proudly, “I am building a cathedral.” Though all three seemed to be doing the same task, the third worked

A: [Andrei Borisov, the former Minister of Culture of the Sakha Republic] revealed a discovery he made in his youth while working as a gardener one winter. In trying to break through a thick layer of ice that covered the garden, he noticed that when he struck the ice in various places, it only formed

On Dec. 14, 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) led the first successful expedition to the South Pole. Amundsen had originally hoped to become the first to reach the North Pole, but amid his preparations, he received the news that an American explorer had beat him to it. As his dream evaporated before his eyes, Amundsen

Aesop’s fable “The Sun and the Wind” concerns a competition between the North Wind and the Sun to decide which of the two was stronger. The challenge was to make a passing traveler remove his cloak. However hard the North Wind blew, the traveler only wrapped his cloak tighter, but when the Sun shone, the traveler